1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to photovoltaic devices and methods for manufacture, and more particularly to a heterostructured device with an embedded homogeneous junction.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional heterojunction (HJ) solar cells, known as a heterojunction with thin intrinsic layers (HIT cells), a back surface field (BSF) contact is comprised of a thin intrinsic (i) hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) layer to passivate the back surface of a crystalline Si (c-Si) substrate and a doped layer of a-Si:H having the same conductivity type as that of the c-Si substrate to establish an electric field to repel minority carriers (electrons in the case of p-type substrate, and holes in the case of n-type substrate) from the back surface of the c-Si substrate. If the HJ solar cell is used in a bifacial mode, which includes light collection from both the backside of the cell and a front side, backside collection is limited by absorption in the doped layer and intrinsic a-Si:H layer.